On the Care and Feeding of Sockets
by sockets
Summary: Though he's still a new mech, Ratchet and Inferno agree that it's time to teach Red Alert how to care for a socket.  Only Red has plans that distract Inferno rather thoroughly first.  Red AlertxInferno, Red AlertxInfernoxAlien Non-humanoid organic


**Fandom**: Transformers Bayverse  
><strong>Author<strong>: gatekat and femme4jack on LJ  
><strong>Pairing<strong>: Red Alert/Inferno/organic  
><strong>Rating<strong>: NC-17 mech/mech/organic  
><strong>Codes<strong>: mechsmut, sticky, first time, kinky (pet/master play), Size-play, xeno (transformer/alien organic), hermaphroditic non-humanoid organic person  
><strong>Summary<strong>: Though he's still a new mech, Ratchet and Inferno agree that it's time to teach Red Alert how to care for a socket. Only Red has plans that distract Inferno rather thoroughly first.  
><strong>Notes<strong>: klik = 1 minute, breem = 8.3 minutes; joor = 1.2 hours; orn = day/32 joor; metacycle = 6 (5.9285) years; vorn = 83 years/14 metacycle  
>Written in the Dathanna de Gray fanverse (community .livejournal .com tf_socket_fics)  
>Written for flarn_fanfic, who won femme4jack's auction on community .livejournal .comhelp_japan  
>If you find any spot with nanofilaments or the like inside a valve, please say something. They should have been edited out.<p>

While Calming Fire (Prequel | Part 1 | Part 2) is not DdG, it does cover the events of Red Alert's sparking in DdG with reasonable accuracy and is very helpful in understanding this one. It can be found on Gatekat's fanfiction . net account or on our non DdG fiction archive http: / anhrefn-hyfryd .livejournal .com / tag / series%3A%20calming%20fire (remove spaces)

We're being lazy writers. Since everyone is speaking Cybertronian, we're not distinguishing it from other languages.  
>::text:: commradio chatter  
>~text~ hardline talk<p>

On pronouns: the training socket in this story is a true hermaphrodite, who, unlike mechs, does not choose to identify with a sexual dimorphic pronoun. In an effort to express this via language, we are using the pronouns _zhe_ (he/she), _zhim_ (him/her) and _zher_ (his/her/hers) in dialog, but using "it" outside of dialog to reflect Red Alert's ambivalent attitude toward organics and charging.

* * *

><p>On the Care and Feeding of Sockets - Red Alert<p>

* * *

><p>Inferno was as nervous as he'd ever been around one of his charges in approaching Red Alert with Ratchet's recommendation. The Chief of Security would be his charge for as long as Red Alert functioned, and Inferno's love for the high-strung mech with the calm spark had grown with every vorn. Every now and then he found the thought of asking to bond creep into his processors.<p>

This orn, though ... this orn he had to explain to Red Alert about sockets, and that they'd be welcoming a training socket into their quarters for at least a few decacycles. He already knew the screeching and sparking that would cause. His charge, his _lover_, was intensely possessive of his personal space, both at work and their quarters. Inviting someone as unpredictable and vulnerable as an organic to live where they relaxed and let down some of their stringent protection protocols would mean they no longer had a place to truly relax.

It wouldn't be good.

The only thing that made Inferno feel better about it was that he knew Erru'ree and knew how experienced the fuzzy serpentine-like organic was in working with high-strung mechs who had never charged.

He knew Red Alert was off shift, which meant the security mech would be working in their quarters until the mech who had been his lover since the orn he had been created showed up. Then, and only then, would Red Alert turn down his sensors and free his processors from the overwhelming awareness he had of all the goings on in Iacon.

Yet, when the door slid open, the search and rescue giant was pleasantly surprised to find his charge sprawled out on their couch, one hand stretched behind him, one knee bent and the other leg to the side creating a deliciously suggestive pose, with some of their favorite music playing over the sound system, the lights low.

"Red," Inferno rumbled, his internal temperature already rising before the door shut, and locked, behind him. "You look amazing. Ready for our evening energon?" He asked, lifting two cubes of slightly-better-than-standard-grade.

"I'm ready to have _you_, Inferno," the lovely red mech with graceful white highlights sang his lover's designation. "Do you know what this orn is?"

It was more than enough to make the giant forget everything else as he strode towards the couch while quickly accessing his chronological files. "One hundred vorns in these quarters," he rumbled as he knelt, large hands reaching forward to caress the sleek, light frame that he so adored to please.

It was, at best, an incredibly obscure thing to celebrate, but Inferno would _never_ discourage his lover's tendency to spring these surprise anniversaries on him.

The slight, delicate-looking mech wrapped his arms around the giant's neck and pulled him in for a searing kiss, his glossa flicking at the much larger lips begging for entrance.

::Do you recall how we celebrated our new, _secure_ quarters?:: he purred through what was likely the most secure comm link ever known to their kind.

With a shiver at the touch and memory, Inferno moaned, opening his mouth to welcome the glossa to play with his own. ::We 'faced on every surface, and you trusted me enough to ask to bind my wrists while you had your way with me,:: Inferno trembled through the words, every one bringing up a searing memory of intense pleasure. ::Then had me do the same to you. Oh, the _sounds_ you made.::

::You convinced me to turn my optical and audio sensors off completely, and experience you by touch alone,:: Red Alert continued the reverie, mewling into his imprinter-turned-lover's mouth, his plates nearly sizzling with heat. ::To trust _you_ to be my optics and audios, and let go. It was the most amazing overload, my fire.::

::It was,:: Inferno's memory banks supplied the carefully preserved file of that exquisite show of trust even as his hands and mouth focused on the Red Alert pressed against him. ::I love you so much, Red. I want to give you those kinds of memories every orn of our functioning.::

::Love you, 'Ferno. Primus, I'm glad they made me with you in mind. He can try as hard as he wants, but no one is taking you away from me,:: Red Alert growled with possessiveness, and a brush of paranoia that unfortunately rushed through his processors frequently. Somehow, the small red mech had gotten the idea that Jazz, who had contrived their relationship before Red Alert had even been built, was planning to force them apart.

::He'll never come between us,:: Inferno soothed with a fierce promise and kiss to match. Red Alert melted into the assurance, and the paranoia passed without deepening into something worse.

::Do you know what memory I'd like to create this orn?:: the smaller mech asked, turning shyly playful.

::Tell me,:: Inferno moaned in unfettered desire.

Red Alert broke the kiss with a static-laced whimper, before diving right back in. Instead of verbalizing the fantasy, he spiraled open a data port to _show_ his lover an image that embarrassed and heated him all at once.

Without hesitation Inferno plugged in and dropped his firewalls to allow the image-thoughts to transfer. Red, in a jeweled collar and very little of his armor, on a leash as Inferno used him every way imaginable. They were paralleled by old holo drama images of nobles and their organic pets; valued, pampered slaves, but ones who paid for their status with their bodies and pleasure.

::Oh _Primus_,:: Inferno shuddered, a wanton moan escaping his vocalizer. He pulled himself away from his lover with difficulty, unplugging the hardline, his spike already free and hard and his valve thick with lubricant and slick. "On you feet, Red," he ordered, his voice commanding. "Strip down."

Red Alert gave a loud rev of excitement that contrasted the way he contritely took a jeweled metal collar and matching, chain linked leash out of subspace and handed them to his massive lover.

"I...I know we aren't supposed to think about them that way," he said, ridiculously apologetic considering how hot his lover's systems were running. "That the way the nobles owned them was wrong ... but when I think about how small I am next to you, and imagine pretending that I'm _yours_ that way..."

He stopped himself from saying any more and began desperately stripping off his armor, the trust implicit in such an act staggering, nearly impossible to imagine from a mech like Red Alert, and yet which did occur, regularly, in the safety of their quarters.

"...It sets your systems on fire." Inferno finished for him, his optics bright with arousal as he watched the finely constructed protoform, nearly as high quality as a ranking noble's, was revealed for him and him alone. "Leave your interface upgrade in place."

Red Alert keened softly in desire, gracefully removing nearly all of his armor, giving small gasps as sensory microfilaments clung to each piece before retracting, leaving behind a waving cilia-like mass of fibers searching for something to link to. When the security specialist was finished, there were only a few artfully arranged bright red armor plates here and there on his sleek, gray protoform, including his interface array and a few other locations for his cables to emerge from.

The heat in Inferno's optics as the giant snapped the collar on and tested the strength of the chain was enough to make Red Alert want to melt.

"You are a pretty thing," Inferno rumbled, extending a hand to lightly caress the sleek lines, shuddering in pleasure at the sticky touch of microfilaments as they grabbed on to his armor and held for a moment before his hand moved on. "But do your skills match up to the price I paid for you?"

As much as Red Alert loved playing the roles of their fantasies, he was not terribly good at it. He tried to suppress a snicker at the question.

"Please, kind mech," he said with a giggle, his field reaching for Inferno's with wild desire, "I was just imported in the last decaorn, sold by my creators to a traveling merchant-mech. The mechs at the shop promised you'd tell me what to do. I don't know what skills you wish me to have."

With a wicked grin Inferno tugged on the chain, drawing his lover closer, and used his free hand to stroke his spike. He settled the powerful hydraulics in his legs and hips to put it at Red Alert's level. "Suck my spike."

Red's owlish optics brightened with desire, but he made a show of fighting, pulling at the chain, his fingers grasping at the collar.

"No! I would never touch a metal monster like that! Stay away from me!"

Inferno rumbled, trying to make it sound displeased and knowing he failed almost as badly as Red Alert did in his acting. "Oh yes you will, or I'll take my pleasure between your legs." He yanked the chain a bit harder, pulling Red Alert's lip plates to the tip of his spike. "I paid for you. You are mine to do with as I please. Including _hurting_ you."

"Beast!" Red hissed, before breaking out into giggles again, his engine revving hard, only to find his open mouth was suddenly filled with his lover's massive spike, which he quickly swallowed into his intake, caressing the length with hungry glossa even as he continued to thrash his helm back and forth.

A large hand, the one not holding his leash, closed around his helm, the fingers easily reaching to his neck and holding him still. Without a word Inferno began to thrust, knowing from intimate experience and imprinter code just how hard would get his lover off and feel like force without actually causing even the smallest harm.

"Struggling will do you no good, but I do enjoy it," Inferno rumbled hotly, his intakes hitching.

The collared mech futilely tried to pull his head away, only to be pushed roughly forward toward the spike that was using him. He then tried pushing with one hand against the search and rescue mech's thigh supports, while his other hand snuck to his own interface panel to finger his dripping valve.

"So much struggle, and you're dripping wet," Inferno's grin widened. "Perhaps I should just sate myself there first." He pulled Red Alert's head back, off his spike, so the other could speak.

"No!" the smaller mech shrieked, the building charge flickering across his protoform like blue lightning. "You're too big! I'm not made for a monster like you!"

It was too much for Inferno, and even though he knew it would end the game rather quickly, he couldn't stop his surrender to his own base desires. He yanked the chain, forcing his pet to the berth and bound Red Alert's wrists to a secure point with the chain leash. The optics that should have looked up in fear were bright with arousal and need as Inferno pressed a single large finger into the slick valve despite the way his lover tried to close his legs.

He was greeted with heat and thick, slick lubricant. Oh, what that would feel like when he sank his spike in!

Red Alert clamped his armor-less thigh supports around the large hand, grinding as much as he was playing at getting free, nanofilaments used to linking to his armor linking up with the sensor net on his lover's hand. "Get your disgusting metal out of me!" he shrieked in a tone normally reserved for paranoid meltdowns at staff meetings.

"I paid for you, I will use you as I see fit," Inferno growled, pumping his finger in and out several times before adding a second while his thumb moved up to rub against Red Alert's upper panel cover, silently demanding that his spike be released. "You are my property. Get used to the idea."

"No! No more! Please! I just want to go back home ... to my ... muddy organic planet," Red Alert tried to keep the smile off of his faceplates as he shook his head and kicked at the much larger mech, but found himself grinning madly at his lover as the upper panel slid back, his already pressurized red spike all but leaping up against Inferno's thumb, the digit nearly as large as the interface component.

Inferno grinned back before he schooled his expression to stern displeasure with difficulty. "Not while I function," Inferno countered, his engine roaring with desire from the tightening calipers his fingers and the way his lover's spike twitched and jerked under the light rubbing of his thumb.

The noises that came out of Red Alert's vocalizer ceased being meaningful words and became gibberish as he desperately tried to hold off from wantonly grinding himself into those large digits. Pretending to fight was becoming increasingly difficult, and he realized he'd stopped completely when he found his legs were wrapped around Inferno's arm.

"Please, master...please!" was all he managed to vocalize.

With a heady rev of his engine Inferno leaned down and ran his glossa along the path his thumb had traveled just before. A third finger pressed into the slick zone of heat and preasure that was Red Alert's valve as Inferno sucked his lover's entire spike into his mouth.

It was too much. The small mech bucked several times, then froze and keened as his fluid spurted into the larger mech's mouth, releasing the wild charge that had built in his system.

His vocalizer had completely shorted out from screaming by the time the overload settled, leaving Inferno shaking in need and Red Alert without a wisp of tension in his entire frame.

"That was good," Inferno rumbled, slowly extracting his fingers from the weakly clutching valve and leaning forward for a tender kiss.

"Amazing...you are always so amazing, 'Ferno," Red Alert said in a static-laced whisper before kissing his lover again. "Want to take care of you...tell me what you'd like," he said, pulling at the chain that bound his wrists to their berth.

Inferno hummed thoughtfully as he unbound his lover, then dipped down for another kiss.

"Spike me," he suggested with a shiver of excitement at the prospect. It was an indulgence he rarely asked for, knowing it didn't work as well for his lover as it did for him.

"Of course," Red agreed immediately. "Can I ... keep the collar and leash on?" he asked shyly, reaching up to caress the complex sensory structures along Inferno's helm.

"As long as you like," Inferno's engine purred deeply as he reluctantly pulled away from the touch and shifted to his back, drawing his much smaller lover on top of him, their sparks almost even.

Red Alert turned his attention to his lover's frame like a thing possessed. Long, thin fingers combined with a multiplicity of cables normally hooked into the base's security center when he was on duty, caressed every surface, sliding under armor and teasing the wiring, cables and protoform below. He felt ecstatic at the rumbling growls of pleasure and desire he elicited so quickly.

Below him, Inferno's legs parted, his knees raised to just the right angle to put his valve where Red Alert could easily sink into it.

Red Alert was not patient, and couldn't keep his lover waiting. He sank into Inferno's valve with the satisfaction of a perfect fit as strong valve calipers grabbed hold of him. It all led to a friction that was nothing short of pure, ravishing bliss as he pulled slowly out again so that just the tip of his spike was inside Inferno's entrance, delighting at the way his lover's anatomy conspired to pull him back in. With a keen he thrust back in to the welcome relief, as fast and hard as he could.

Inferno's helm fell back in a bliss of his own. His hips rolled up with each thrust, protocols and reworked systems matching the movements to a lover who was outside his expected range. With his hands on Red Alert's frame, he could crush the mech too easily without hardcoded and hardwired protections for the small, lightly armored frame.

"Oh, Red..."

"Love you, 'Ferno. Love you to the pit and back," the spark-stopping minibot whispered, finding just the perfect rhythm to satisfy his much larger lover.

He spiraled open every available port, and sent out his own modules to connect with the familiar, beloved systems that had been connected to his own from nearly the first moment he had booted up. Inferno embodied everything that was safe and trustworthy; pleasing him and making him happy were the only things he could imagine as more important that his primary function as the chief of security for the Autobots.

The moment their systems connected, both sets of firewalls dropped, welcoming each other deep and sharing the exquisite joy and pleasure that was pleasuring one another. As revved up as Inferno was, it was enough to break his tenuous control and he roared his overload without a shred of restraint. It sent all the energy crashing into Red Alert's systems, then back into Inferno's in a loop that whited both their processors out long before the charge had fully dissipated.

When he cycled back online, Inferno became aware of Red Alert nervously cleaning up both of their frames, his former relaxed and ravishingly aroused demeanor replaced with trembling anxiety.

"Red?" he focused quickly. It was unlike his lover to be unsettled this quickly after two hard overloads.

"I'm sorry, 'Ferno," he said quickly, his frame heating with embarrassment. "I looked at something I shouldn't have when I cycled online, wasn't even totally aware of what I was doing or that I was still in your processors. I can't believe I made us play that ... when one of those things is going to be in our quarters," he explained with a rush, moving off of the berth to begin frantically looking around for what needed to be done to prepare their quarters for a training socket.

"Red," Inferno reached out to capture his distressed charge, easily slipping into the role as it was needed. "It's okay," he soothed, drawing Red Alert to his lap and cradling him. "It's not like zhe was here to watch. Kinks aren't about logic or what's acceptable out there," he waved a general hand towards the door to their quarters. "I enjoyed it, you enjoyed it, no one else watched. That's all that matters."

"But that's just it, Inferno!" Red Alert sat stiff in his lap, refusing to relax. "With zhim here, we can't do _any_ of the things that really help me let go, settle me. Not to mention they are _so_ ridiculously fragile. I won't be able to relax for even a klik. This is a nightmare. Why can't I just get medical charges if I need them? I can't worry about an organic if I'm offline. Ratchet is just trying to glitch me more so he can get his cables in me and start the reprogram. I _know_ it!"

"I know it's going to be stressful, Red," Inferno murmured, modulating his voice to sooth the distressed minibot. "But if you saw what is coming, did you see why I agreed?"

"I disconnected as soon as I saw that zhe was coming tonight," he said in a stricken tone. "I still can't believe I was pretending that to be one of them when they were slaves...and it still excites me! It excites me to think of having one that is...property, mine to use as I please like they did in the holo dramas. What is _wrong_ with me, Inferno?"

"Nothing," Inferno forced him to look up and meet his optics. "What you get off on is power play. The bondage is part of that too. You know I get off on it just as much; you've _felt_ it in a merge and in my systems. As long as everyone involved honestly agrees to it, there it nothing wrong with it. An organic is just the first opportunity you've had to be the big, strong, dominant one."

"What if I scare zhim?" the slight mech whimpered, refusing to be comforted. "What if I glitch around zhim and frighten zhim? I don't have any idea how to take care of one of these things. Why do I have to do this? Why now?"

"Red, that's _why_ I agreed to Erru'ree joining us for a while," Inferno stroked Red Alert's plating, still trying to sooth him. "There may be a time when a medical charge can't be had and you'll have to charge with an organic while aware. Besides, medical charges will never give your spark the same strength a conscious, consenting one will. If you learn how to care and charge with them now, you'll be learning with one who's done this for dozens of mechs just this vorn. Zhe won't take offence at any mistakes, there's no long-term relationship to damage and if you _do_ manage to frighten zhim, zhe won't hold it against you or anyone else. Red, zhe _knows_ who and what you are. Zhe's the best educational socket on Cybertron; Ratchet and Prime both pulled some strings to get zhim to agree."

"I'm sure they did, considering zhe knows I'm a freak," the little red mech said in a petulant tone that was actually a good sign compared to the near glitching paranoia had been his state when Inferno onlined. Inferno's field felt Red Alert start to turn down his sensors again, which had, prior to that moment, been locked on the hermaphroditic organic in the socket sector of the base.

Those same socket quarters were far too empty, Red Alert knew, and would remain so until they found new organics who were willing to be claimed. So many of the vulnerable creatures had died when Megatron had destroyed the artificial atmosphere, and so many others had been deliberately targeted in every raid and attack. Fortunately, the buildings that had eventually become the main Autobot bas in Iacon had been one of the original locations C'chukt and other first sockets had been brought to, and could produce its own organic-safe gasses.

Red Alert quickly scanned their own secure quarters, double-checking that the atmospheric conditions and temperature were suitable to Erru'ree's species. When the Inferno sensed the temperature of their room slowly rising, he knew he had won this particular battle.

He kissed the beautifully swirled and swept sensory horns, stroked the lightly armored plating designed to take tremendous amounts of information about his surroundings rather than to protect the spark pulsing inside.

"Thank you, Red," he whispered with a kiss. "Would you like to merge before meeting zhim?"

With a strangled keen, Red Alert clung to his mentor, unlocking his chest plates without hesitation in what was, by far, the most highly secured room on base. He needed to _feel_, once again, how perfect he was for his lover's spark, _feel_ his own spark through Inferno's and know that he wasn't a glitch at the level where it mattered the most.

His spark felt the unshielded presence of the other almost as soon as it was free, Inferno's chest plates retracting slower for their larger size and heavy nature, but only by a bit.

"Come here, my dear Red," Inferno murmured as he easily arranged their frames to make the merge happen smoothly and easily.

* * *

><p>Red Alert was still on his peaceful, centered post-merge high when the door chime pinged the arrival of their training socket. He remained on the couch, though he did shift to look across the armrest as Inferno stood to answer the door.<p>

Of course he'd downloaded everything on Osyshian Serpents in general and Erru'ree in particular and was feeling much better about the next few decaorns. Not that he was looking forward to it, but he didn't feel nearly as lost as he had before the merge and downloads.

While it was not critical that he start to charge with sockets yet, as a preprogrammed, adult-sparked mech, his spark was already under some strain. He wondered what that would feel like for his spark to quite literally feed on the energy of another living being. It was supposedly pleasurable, but it was difficult to process enjoying intimacy with something that was tiny, soft, and required such extreme care lest it be injured.

The door slid open and Red Alert's optics locked on the serpentine creature. It was exactly as his data indicated. Nine feet long, a foot high, with downy purple fur half the length of his finger and a multitude of thin, insectoid legs. Deep jaws were on one end, lined with hard sheering plates and a tongue with relatively long spikes that meshed into two rows on the roof of it's mouth to form a trap few organics could escape from.

"Hello Erru'ree," Inferno greeted it, stepping aside politely for the Osyshian Serpent to scuttle in, though 'scuttle' didn't seem right, watching it move. It was a smooth ripple under it's body, causing the fluffy purple fur to undulate in a somewhat graceful way.

::Hello, Inferno,:: it responded over their comms, not having vocal anatomy capable of spoken language.

Red Alert stood and nodded his head in greeting, unsure of what to say to a creature so vastly different from himself that it could only communicate with them through a comm, and only then after nanites had done some major revisions on the language centers in its brain. Its own species communicated largely through visual and chemical signals, which he supposed he could learn to read in time, if it were required. He had no intention of having such a requirement. He self-consciously moved close to Inferno, wrapping his arms around the larger mech's waist. He could sense Erru'ree's organic vitality, so alien from the spark signatures he normally sensed around him. His spark pulsed briefly in tempo with that resonance, recognizing something his processors were not aware of.

::Hello, Red Alert,:: it lifted the forward quarter of its body to look them in the optics. ::It is a pleasure to meet you in person. I have heard much about your skills in securing every facility you visit.::

Red Alert felt a rush of pride run through his systems at the compliment. "Thank you, Erru'ree," he said in the most polite tone he could manage while stressed. "Not one of our facilities is fully up to my standards yet, but I hope some day we will all be able to rest more secure."

He found himself scanning the creature repeatedly, unsure whether he was doing so to make sure it posed no risk to them, or they posed to risk to it. He was suddenly painfully aware of the multitude of ways the soft, segmented body could be injured in their presence. How could anyone stand being close to something that vulnerable?

::If you would like, we can watch a vid for entertainment while you observe how Inferno and I interact?:: the alien suggested. ::It will give you a better understanding before you have any physical contact with me.::

Red Alert looked hesitantly at Inferno, who smiled and stroked his side gently. He wasn't certain he _wanted_ to see his lover having physically intimate contact with anyone else, much less the soft creature who smelled odd to his olfactory sensors and whose body was leaving microscopic parts of itself at every point of contact with the surfaces around it.

At Inferno's gentle squeeze, he replied politely, "Yes, that would be acceptable." He knelt down to be closer to the creature's level. "What sort of vid did you have in mind? And do you require sustenance?" he added after a moment, reviewing the regulations and suggestions about care for its kind.

::Thank you, a kiebree-flavored nutrient ball would be most welcome,:: it said as Inferno calmly scooped it up and allowed it to climb up his arm to drape over his shoulders and around the back of his neck. ::What kind of vids do you enjoy?::

Red Alert was so distracting by the disconcerting visual image of the serpentine organic so intimately draped on his lover that he fell back into old habits and lost himself in his sensor data for several nanokliks before he caught himself and answered, "Yes, yes ... nutrient ball. I believe Inferno keeps them stocked. I've never ... interacted personally with an organic before, but I'm sure you are aware of that. As to vids, Inferno and I have recently been enjoying a holo drama called Tower Lights, from Sentinel Prime's era," he explained as he made his way into their kitchen and opened a storage cabinet. He pulled out a container with a wide variety of nutrients, removing the correct one and returning to where Inferno was still standing.

He froze, trying to figure out whether to hand the ball to his lover or place it in the organic's bizarre looking mouth. Two squid-like clasper tentacles slid out from under the fluffy purple fur near its front end and reached for the ball, which he obediently presented to it.

"Not that I at all approve of how those Tower's mechs viewed their sockets, of course," he quickly explained, covering up his discomfort with even more awkwardness. "I know that your kind aren't slaves or property. My coding is very clear about this. I just enjoy the romantic intrigue of the show, and the lovely costuming of the organics and detailing and accessories on the mechs' frames."

::It's all right, Red Alert,:: the creature made a churring sound not unlike a mech trying to comfort someone. ::I do understand the difference between entertainment and actions. Perhaps we can watch the next episode?::

Red Alert gave an over eager affirmative chirp, thankful to have something to do, and signaled their holovid to load the next episode, titled _When Second Creations Stray_, apparently based on the true story of a second creation towerling who actually defied his creator and bonded with a much more powerful mech from the house of a despised enemy.

The security mech sat gingerly on the couch he normally sprawled out on, as far to one end as he possible could. Inferno cast him a supportive look and reached one hand over to rest on his leg while the other hand and several cables ensured that Erru'ree would not fall off. He was also gently stroking it with the cables and rubbing its back with his fingers.

It was a surreal scene for the smaller mech, but one that also set in his processors how much experience Inferno had in handling delicate things ... which to Inferno, included _him_.

On some of Red Alert's more unsettled days, he wondered how Inferno could tolerate him. On the worst days, he became convinced that Inferno was finished with him, tired of the glitch who took up so much of his time. Then there were the horrid moments when he simply _knew_ he was only an assignment to the giant mech, a duty given to his lover before Red Alert was even sparked, a duty that would be happily relinquished when Inferno was finally released by those who had created the Chief of Security fully knowing how glitched his sensors would make him.

All it took was a merge for Red Alert to know that his paranoia was only that, the glitch of coding that was far too complex and modifications that were more than any Cybertronian processor could tolerate without errors.

With a small vent of relief, he put his own hand on top of Inferno's and then stroked up his arm as the opening scenes of a city long-ago destroyed unfolded in front of them. Crystal City was stunningly beautiful, as was his lover who was showing such tenderness to the strange creature wrapped around his neck.

::When will you plug in to charge with zhim?:: Red Alert asked on their secure channel, quite aware that the socket could pick up any normal comms.

::Not during the holo drama,:: Inferno replied, his tone gentle. ::A large part of having a socket is simply existing around one. It is not unlike living with your lover. There is interfacing, but it is not the only activity.::

::It isn't?:: the smaller mech teased before his attention was momentarily transfixed by the introduction of the main character of the story, a second creation whose designation was Colorcatcher. The mech was stunningly crafted, obviously highly ranked even for a noble. His lightweight armor seemed to flow with his movements, iridescent chromonanites had an inner luminescence.

The mech's socket was a pure white, fluffy avian breed, rare even at that time, and now extinct. He had an intricately jeweled collar on, very similar to the one he and Inferno had played with earlier - a collar, he suddenly stiffened and realized, he had never removed.

One hand went immediately to his neck and felt only his own cabling.

::I took it off when you offlined during our merge,:: Inferno said gently. ::Didn't want to give any wrong ideas to zhim. I put your armor back on, as well. First impressions, and all that.::

::Thank you, love:: he said, relaxing again, keeping a few sensors on the vid, but most of his attention on Erru'ree who appeared to be watching with interest even as its body continued to slide with alien sensuousness on Inferno's frame. It always had some sense of movement, even when still.

"Erru'ree, have you ever watched any of these old Towerling Holo Dramas?" he asked in what he hoped was a polite tone.

::Oh yes,:: it churred happily. ::I never got into Tower Lights. I have enjoyed several others. My mentor as a training socket had an absolute addiction to them,:: it added with an amused chirp.

"Was your mentor a mech or another organic?" he asked, suddenly feeling oddly curious about a topic he had never given any processor space to before. If he were honest, he had hardly ever given organics any consideration, other than the fact that they were particularly difficult to keep safe and were horrible security risks, given how easily their minds could be broken. He had occasionally considered that he would one day need to charge, but the thought had always created anxiety in him, so he had avoided it.

::Two mechs, designations Ratchet and Prowl,:: it answered, giving both designations the sub-harmonics of great fondness and respect. ::Ratchet taught me everything he knew about how charging works and the medical side of it. Prowl taught me how to be with difficult or uncooperative mechs, though Ratchet also had several lessons and 'victims' for me as well.::

Red Alert found himself actually laughing. "Yes, they would both be very good for those types of lessons. Which one was addicted to holo dramas?" he asked, anxious for a bit of gossip which even his security system had not revealed to him. He hardly noticed that he was relaxing even more.

::I rather like my fur intact, thank you,:: The Osyshian Serpent made a trilling giggle aloud to accompany its comm. ::I'm sure you know just how _miserable_ either one of them can make those who annoy them.::

::Ratchet, then,:: Red Alert commented privately to his lover with amusement. ::If Prowl didn't want others to know he was addicted to holo dramas, he wouldn't have watched them with zhim.::

::Very true,:: Inferno chuckled in reply. His fingers slid along Red Alert's inner leg, encouraging him to spread them. "Yes, we do," he responded to Erru'ree's previous statement. "What was Prowl like?"

::Very stiff. He doesn't even have an organic-style interface upgrade like you two. He knows what he's doing across the socket connection though,:: its fur trembled in the memory.

Red Alert vented nervously, suddenly very stiff himself. He _knew_ that the spike and valve interface array had originally been invented for interfacing with sockets, but to him, he could only consider their purpose to be sharing pleasure with Inferno.

"The information on the files indicates that reproduction is not the primary source of physical pleasure for your species. What do you normally enjoy the most ... when you are sharing?" he asked, mostly in order to prepare himself for what he would end up seeing and participating in.

It gave a trill of reassurance. ::Our bellies have the lightest fur and the most tactile nerves. Being tickled or rubbed is exquisite. Among my kind, we would line up on our sides, belly to belly, and stroke the other's belly with all our legs,:: it shivered in remembered pleasure. ::Being petted, groomed and bathed are all also very pleasurable for me.::

Red Alert's optics cycled, surprised to find that what it described did not sound so repulsive to him. He loved baths, and he and Inferno "groomed" one another regularly, leading to all sorts of pleasurable results.

His own legs were already wide apart, both to give Inferno access but also because of the very heated interface scene that was now taking place in the holo drama between the main character and his secret lover, who would turn out _not_ to be the gardener, but actually the first creation of a very power enemy clade.

::Grooming doesn't sound so bad,:: he said tentatively to Inferno.

::Good,:: the giant mech rumbled in approval. He shifted his hand to stroke a finger along Red Alert's valve cover. "They're hot, aren't they? The sounds Colorcather makes are almost as good as yours when I'm inside of you."

"They are," Red Alert shivered, and slid the cover back for access. "Though from what I've learned from Mirage, the plot seems unrealistic to me. Do you think a towerling second creation would actually leave his intended? Mirage helped design my frame," he added as an aside to the serpent, the pride very apparent in the statement.

::It shows, as does Sunstreaker's influence,:: it accompanied the compliment with a cooing sound. ::From my understanding, no, a second creation would never go against its creator's wishes,:: it thrummed softly, a sound as much from its body as the vocalizer. ::A fourth _might_. A fifth is much more likely to rebel.::

"Well, Tower Lights was never known for being a realistic holo drama," Inferno said, a single finger nearly as large as Red Alert's spike tracing his exterior valve sensors.

"No," Red Alert snickered, spreading his legs even wider. "It is really just an excuse to watch incredibly pretty mechs face with anyone and anything ... I mean any mech and any socket."

::Yes, lovely mechs and lovely interfacing,:: it rumbled along its entire body as it began to press and rub against Inferno's neck and shoulders.

"Makes me want to overload everyone before those two lovely mechs do," Inferno rumbled deeply and pressed his finger into Red Alert's valve.

The smaller mech vented with a stuttered gasp. "I...I thought we were simply...Primus Inferno! Simply going to watch the vid first."

"We can," the big mech murmured seductively and drew his finger out of Red Alert's valve. "But why miss such a lovely opportunity? You in my lap, watching them while my spike fills you, your cries echoing theirs."

"Well," Red Alert reasoned with a whimper as his valve tried to follow Inferno's finger on its own accord, "it _would_ be a realistic example of what normally happens in our quarters when we are watching Tower Lights."

He glanced nervously at the organic, and froze as he saw his lover's cables stroking it across its belly, making the whole surface undulate.

Pointedly ignoring Red Alert's stare, Inferno lifted him up and set him on his lap, back-to-chest so they could both continue watching while they interfaced.

"Good, because I'm not sure I could hold back that long," Inferno whispered with a deep rev of his powerful, high-torque engine that vibrated all three of them.

It helped to be watching the holo drama, to be less aware of what was happening behind him aside from the powerful chassis, hot against his own and the massive, thick spike dribbling lubricants down his back, just waiting to fill his valve.

On the screen, Colorcatcher was living a second creation's dream, being the object of another's attention rather than the one who was expected to be providing pleasure to the first creation he had been given to. The high ranking noble that planned to subvert him from his own intended had his glossa deep in the iridescent mech's valve.

"You want my spike in there, to fill you up?" Inferno rumbled, demanding that his lover _ask_ for what he wanted. "Or do you want to suck me off? What makes you _burn_, my love?"

"In me...pl...please Inferno. Str...str...stretch me, as far as I'll go."

Inferno shivered in anticipation and lifted his lover up, easily balancing the small, slender frame in his hands to rest his valve on the tip of his spike.

"Moan for me," Inferno demanded with deep desire as he slowly lowered Red Alert, tucking the mech's wheeled pedes under him so they'd rest outside Inferno's hips.

Red Alert's static-laced, electronic moans and whines filled their quarters as he forgot about everything outside of the large spike slowly filling him with a burn of perfect pleasure-pain. That was, until the organic began making its own noises of pleasure. A glance told him that Inferno had plugged into its socket, and likely, the serpent was feeling just what Inferno was as Red's tight heat enveloped his shaft. A cable nudged at one of his ports and he spiraled it open immediately.

The intense pleasure of organic energy feeding a hungry spark flowed into him, allowing him to feel exactly what Inferno was feeling from the socket.

It was the first moment he understood _why_ other mechs were not repulsed by charging with organics. Even secondhand, the sensations were exquisite, and his own spark seemed lunge in its casing, suddenly _hungry_, so very, _very_ hungry.

It was a frightening sensation. His spark was normally the most calm part of himself, a haven of quiet and peace amidst the screaming input of his sensors and overwhelming constant assessment of risk in his processors.

But now his spark was churning with need for something he had not even realized he was missing.

~Do you want to charge?~ Inferno offered gently, allowing his lover to still on his lap, his spike deep inside the smaller mech. ~As eager as my spark is, I charged a decaorn ago.~

Red Alert's frame was shaking, his armor rattling in fear-laced need. ~Afraid,~ he whispered through the hardline. ~My spark ... it's frightening me.~

He wasn't sure what to do. His own spark felt dangerous to him, something he needed to contain or escape, and he could do neither.

~Focus on me, love,~ Inferno crooned, offering as much reassurance and calm as he could. ~Your spark can never betray you. It knows what it needs. This is just like the first time you tasted energon. Remember that? The rush it made in your systems. You've learned that's nothing to fear despite how intense it can be. This is the same.~

The security mech whimpered, but latched on to his lover's solid presence across the hardline. His spark now was, quite literally, lunging. Had his casing been open, he was sure that his corona would have reached out past its limits to touch the organic.

He tentatively signaled his never-used socket interface cable to emerge from is wrist, allowing it to draw up against Inferno's.

~Only with you ... I don't trust myself alone,~

~I'll always be here with you,~ Inferno promised as he guided Red Alert's cable to merge with his own. If the rush of feeling Inferno's well-fed spark feed was intense, the first rush of organic pleasure-energy into his own brought out a keening scream that was half ecstasy and half unadulterated terror. ~If it's too much, we can merge.~

The echo of 'oh please!' rippled across the connection from Erru'ree.

Red Alert's spark took over for his processors. Without any conscious signal to do so, his systems began sending pulses back along the connection to increase the organic's pleasure, to build the charge, to create and take what he needed.

Everything was hunger and aching need that would have consumed the organic whole if he'd let it. His normally gentle spark wanted to take, to keep, to claim, to never be without the ability to charge, to hide the organic away from every other mech save Inferno, and take what it needed over and over again, whether it was pleasure or fear, just as long as it was being fed.

The intensity was horrifying and wonderful, made him feel huge and powerful, yet weak and vulnerable all at once.

Distantly, his higher processors registered that Inferno was blocking many signals from reaching the organic, though he wasn't hindering the flow of energy from it. The giant mech was trying to tell him something, but the hunger was too much, too all-consuming. After a moment Inferno stopped trying to make sense and they both sank into the sensations of charging their sparks to a chorus of growls and hisses from the organic.

Red Alert turned himself around, then lowered himself back onto lover's giant spike. He needed to see the source of the strength flowing into his spark with his own optics, which were glowing nearly white in feral intensity. With a keen, he opened his chest plates so he and his lover could merge and complete the circuit, in order to give the organic even more pleasure, to spiral its pleasure higher and higher, just on the edge of climax. He was no longer repulsed by Inferno's cables stroking the soft belly. Anything...he would do _anything_ to make the energy keep coming.

In response Inferno's chest plates opened and he gently pulled his lover closer, allowing their coronas to touch and mingle, little lightning bolts of energy connecting and holding on as the pleasure of all three became connected on the spark level.

"Oh yeah!" Inferno's rumble vibrated the entire room. "Let go, Red," he moaned. "Let me pleasure zhim and enjoy yourself."

If it had been any mech save Inferno, and even if it had been Inferno but his spark hadn't been sinking smoothly into Inferno's larger one, he would not have been able to let go. But his optics locked onto his lover's, and he relinquished it all to simply be a vessel and receive what Inferno's capable processors, frame and spark could give both to him and the organic. It was the last thought he could process as his spark absorbed the energy, both directly and through the merge.

The first thought that crossed Red Alert's processors as he came back to himself was that he was ruined for regular interfacing.

The second thought was shame that Inferno might not be enough.

~It's okay, my love,~ Inferno murmured gently, stroking his back and sensor-covered winglets. ~You do need to charge, just like you need energon. It's the same for me. Please, never be ashamed to let me know when you want or need something.~

Red Alert wrapped his arms around his lover even tighter, never wanting to let go. He observed the still passed out organic...Erru'ree, he reminded himself, draped over his lover's shoulders. Zhe was...lovely, in a strange, alien way, and he never could have processed how much his spark would desire what zhe could give.

~I frightened zhim,~ he suddenly realized, recalling just how intense his spark's need had been, what it had desired.

~If zhe'd felt that at full force, yes you would have,~ Inferno murmured. ~There are protocols you need to learn for sharing. It's possible to damage, even kill an organic with our need. That's why it's always done with a knowledgeable socket and mech at first.~

~Oh Primus,~ the smaller mech moaned, anxiety mounting as he realizing just what he would be capable of if he were hungry enough...without someone there to protect the vulnerable creature. ~What if I feel out of control again, and you aren't there? How do I stop myself? I don't think I _can_ stop myself, now that I've felt it...~

He frantically began writing protocols that would keep him as far away from the creatures as possible unless Inferno were around. He was _certain_ if he were alone with one, it would end up terrified at best, and potentially far, far worse.

~Shu, shu,~ Inferno stopped him, guiding him to a set of core-code protocols already installed but not fully active. ~These are the basics. They work with most socket races. These,~ he brought up another set, ~will first give you a warning, pain, if you've frightened or otherwise have an unwilling socket. If you ignore the warning, it will force a disconnect and you'll experience what organics felt in the generators until your spark calms down or a medic stops the playback. It's ... beyond anything I can explain. A lot of work has gone into ensuring organics are protected from us.~

Red Alert examined the protocols with a mixture of abject horror and fascination. ~I ... I don't want to feel what they felt in the generators,~ he said, his frame beginning to tremble. ~It would be better to simply be charged by a medical socket, and not have to face this possibility...~

Even as he said it, he knew he would never be fully satisfied with a medical charge.

~Love, learning how to charge _safely_ is why Erru'ree is with us,~ Inferno stroked his back, trying to sooth him. ~Once your spark is sated, it will be much easier to learn how to control yourself. It is little different than interfacing or spark merging. Both can do damage to your partner. But neither of us has been hurt.~

~Yes, but you...you aren't a tiny, vulnerable, short lived creature that I could extinguish simply by rolling the wrong way during recharge,~ he whined even as he settled into his lover's calming embrace. ~We should learn to breed them with armor, or make them bigger, or something!~ he said petulantly. ~What was Primus processing?~

~I don't know,~ Inferno admitted. ~Perhaps that it would be good for us to learn how to care for such a limited, vulnerable entity. Red Alert, you will simply have to trust me for now. Once the protocols have been fully integrated you won't need to think about them or worry about hurting your socket or experiencing the pain and torment of frightening one. I remember what it was like my first time,~ he offered to share the files with his lover.

~I always trust you,~ the smaller mech murmured, lifting himself up to his knees on Inferno's lap to kiss his mentor and lover. ~Show me spark-to-spark. It will calm me down for when zhe wakes, and it feels so much better than simply taking a file.~

Inferno smiled and parted his chest plates, offering his spark without hesitation.


End file.
